David Still II photo
POINTS MADE, TAKEN – County Commissioner Sheila Lyons, who chaired the ad-committee on risk analysis vegetation management, talks over points of agreement and disagreement in that group’s conclusions with Sue Phelan, director of GreenCAPE. Phelan served on the committee but resigned after the final meeting for what she saw as inappropriate editing via e-mail of the final report.

Looks to “act within its authority”

The county commissioners will look to the things they can do to craft a plan to address pesticide and herbicide use across Cape Cod.

At their Feb. 23 meeting, the commissioners discussed the report of the ad-hoc committee on risk analysis vegetation management, which recommended forming a committee to further study the issue more comprehensively.

Cape Cod Commission Executive Director Paul Niezwiecki will draft a proposal for a groundwater monitoring plan and to quantify what’s being applied across the Cape. He will also look at development of policies that can restrict the use of chemicals.

“We do have to be up front in everything that we do with the limits of our authority,” Niedzwiecki said, following comments by commissioners Chairman Bill Doherty. “There is no limit on our leadership on this issue, but leadership is difficult and there’s a big difference between leadership and pandering.”

Niedzwiecki, who spoke dismissively of the Cape’s narrow focus on NStar spraying, said that by looking at single issues rather than taking a comprehensive look, “We’re creating the impression that we’ve made the Cape safer when really we’re whistling past the graveyard on a lot of other threats that are out there.”

Wolf’s chief of staff, Seth Rolbein, said the senator supports a monitoring program, but his position is that NStar should move to a no-spray policy.

With respect to added legislative authorization, Rolbein said Wolf does not have the specifics of what the commissioners have in mind, but stands ready to discuss such options.

State Rep. Cleon Turner of Dennis also filed legilsation, co-sponsored by two other reps from the region, Sarah Peake and Tim Madden, to provide towns the option of seeking a “no-spray” policy for their communities. The legislation establishes a method of negotiation between the towns and spraying entity.

Cape Cod Commission staff is completing the mapping of public and private wells along the NStar rights of way and has been in discussions with the state to create a groundwater monitoring plan to keep tabs on whether any allowed spraying reaches the groundwater.

County Commissioner Sheila Lyons, who chaired the ad-hoc group, provided an overview of its work and the resulting recommendation. She found it “unfortunate” that so much attention has been given to the fifth and final recommendation, which speaks to the committee’s support of the vegetation management plan as presented by NStar.

Ad hoc committee member Leo Cakounes thought that the report received “a lot of negative press,” and unfairly. The final recommendation supporting NStar’s vegetation management plan was conditioned on the company meeting the conditions contained in the first four.

“If they follow the recommendations, then it’s supported,” Cakounes told the commissioners.

He also said that some of the towns that signed on to the resolution supporting a “no-spray” policy have licensed pesticide applicators on staff using some of the same products NStar proposes to use.

Sue Phelan of GreenCAPE served on the ad-hoc committee, voting against its recommendations and resigning after the final meeting for what she saw as inappropriate changes to the report via e-mail.

She told the commissioners that she believed any recommendation from the advisory group was premature because it had not done all of the work needed to make such a determination.

Phelan also took issue with the committee’s name, which included the words “risk analysis.” She said that the committee did not do thatwork.